Degree Overview

Bachelor of Science in Business Management

Our online business management degree will help your career soar. The B.S. in Business Management enables you to build broad skills and knowledge in business management that will give an excellent boost to your career’s long-term health. You will become a better manager with the knowledge and skills to be a confident leader.

Who the Program is For:

Established business managers or supervisors who want a bachelor’s degree to advance their careers in business management.

Individuals who wish to enter management and need the training and credentials to open doors.

Individuals who have completed some college coursework or have applicable work experience.

Individuals who can typically spend 15 or more hours per week on their studies.

The program requires a total of 120 competency units (CUs), our equivalent to the traditional credit hour. If you’ve taken courses or received a degree from another college or university, you may be able to clear some of these requirements through transfer credit.

Key Subject Areas

These Courses Add to Your Credentials

Business

Leadership and Management

Business Law and Ethics

Information Technology Fundamentals

IT Management for Business

Accounting

Economics

Spreadsheets

Marketing and Communication

Human Resources

Management

Quantitative Analysis for Business

Finance

Business Management

Core Subject Areas

These General Education Assessments May Be Cleared through Transfer Credit

Capstone Project

The bachelor’s in business management degree program also requires the successful completion of a capstone written project. Your capstone project is something to be proud of — it’s the culmination of all of your hard work. Your final project allows you to take what you’ve learned and apply it to a real-world situation, proposing a solution to an actual issue you face in your place of business. Go ahead; show everyone what you can do.

Why We Are Different

Featured News

Find out why Fast Company calls WGU one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies, CNN says we're "a school without boundaries," and major news outlets from NPR to Bloomberg BusinessWeek are touting WGU's "potential to transform the higher education industry."

How It Works

A Degree Program That Fits Your Schedule

WGU Missouri is designed to let you go to school on your time, not according to a class schedule. Our online degree program is flexible and puts you at the center of your education: you choose when and where to complete your coursework. Once you demonstrate your competency in a subject area, you can move on to your next course.

Online learning is not easy.

You should expect to work hard and spend 20 hours or more per week on your studies. Still, your program will be flexible enough to fit into your schedule, not the other way around.

How Long Will It Take?

It Depends On You

The average time it takes to complete the bachelor’s in business management degree program at WGU is 2-2.5 years for students with an associate degree or equivalent and 4-5 years for students with little or no prior college. That’s significantly less than at other online schools.

WGU competency-based method, which allows you to advance through your courses using the skills and knowledge you already have, may allow you to finish your degree in even less time.

The program requires a total of 120 competency units (CUs), our equivalent to the traditional credit hour. If you’ve taken courses or received a degree from another college or university, you may be able to clear some of these requirements through transfer credit.

Ultimately, the pace at which you complete your online Bachelor’s of Business Management program depends on how rapidly you pass assessments.

"Our partnership with WGU enables our employees to advance their education affordably without interrupting their careers." John Steele, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Hospital Corporation of America

How Competency-Based Education Benefits You

Put Your Existing Knowledge to Work

Western Governors University was the first university in the country to employ a cutting edge, competency-based learning model that lets you use skills and knowledge you already have to accelerate your degree program.

In WGU's online degree programs, students advance by demonstrating their competence in each subject area. You’ll be able to move quickly through material you already know so you can spend your time focusing on what you still need to learn.

With few exceptions, you’ll be able to choose when and where you study.

You’ll complete as much work as YOU choose during each six-month term.

You’ll collaborate with your Faculty Mentor to determine the learning resources that will help you develop and demonstrate your competency in each subject area.

You’ll be required to complete at least 12 CUs per term for bachelor's degree programs and 8 CUs per term for graduate degree programs in order to make On Time Progress. If you choose to and are able, you can add courses and move more quickly through your program.

How Much Will It Cost?

Less Than You Think

We're committed to keeping tuition low and making sure our online education degree programs remain the very best value for hardworking students. WGU doesn't spend money on classrooms, research facilities, or football stadiums. Instead, we focus on keeping costs low. And because we charge tuition at a flat-rate each term, if you complete coursework ahead of schedule, you can save yourself money as well as time.

You pay for time—not credits

No matter how many courses you complete each term, your tuition stays the same.

The more courses you complete each term, the fewer terms you have until graduation.

If you complete your program ahead of schedule, you'll save both time and money.

Total Tuition Depends on Time

You’ll pay the same low, flat-rate tuition each 6-month term, regardless of how many courses you complete. If you accelerate your degree program, you’ll pay less for your degree. The following hypothetical students illustrate two common scenarios for the Bachelor of Science, Business Management program:

Tuition and Fees

For this program, a full course load is 12 competency units (credit hours) per term – each course generally represents three or four competency units.

$3,190: Tuition per 6-Month Term

$145: Resource Fee per 6-Month Term

$65: One-Time Application Fee

The B.S. in Business Management online degree program at WGU is designed to be affordable for hard-working adults with bills to pay.

When We Say Affordable, We Mean It

WGU's Bachelor of Science in Business Management program is typically about half the cost of a comparable program at another online university. A business degree program at a traditional university can cost as much as $40,000.

Tuition Comparison: Bachelor of Science Business Management degree

WGU

University of Phoenix

$3,190 per six month term.If it takes four years = $25,520

120 credits x $490* per credit = .$58,800

*$490/credit cost based on an average of $395 per credit for lower-division courses and $585 for upper-division courses.*Note: This chart is for illustration only. Actual results will vary depending upon the number of terms needed to complete the program. Estimates based on WGU's standard tuition as of January 2018. Tuition rates were gathered from competing university websites during April 2017.

Respected, Recognized, and Accredited

Northwest Commission Accredited

Western Governors University is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The Northwest Commission is also responsible for the accreditation of other major universities in the West, including the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, Gonzaga University, and the University of Utah, among many others. Learn more about accreditation here.

An online business degree from WGU tells employers that you're serious about success.

"The big draw was the fact that it was online. I could work at my own pace." James Dye,WGU Alumnus

How a Course Works

Prove What You Know and Move Forward

You set your own pace by demonstrating your skills. In the online degree programs at WGU Missouri, you'll advance through each course by first mastering the course content, then completing and passing challenging assessments that measure your knowledge and skills in each subject area.

These rigorous assessments (tests, papers, assignments, and projects) let you demonstrate your competence in each subject area in order to pass the course and earn competency units (CUs), our equivalent to the traditional credit hour.

WGU Missouri sets a high standard, and we want our students to succeed. You'll be given ample opportunity to master the subject matter and re-take assessments as needed in order to graduate.

Get Started

Applicants must possess a high school diploma or its equivalent. Applicants who do not possess an appropriate AA or AS degree will be required to take the WGU Readiness Assessment — a short, multi-part online admission test that helps determine the likelihood of success in a WGU Missouri program.

Question and Answer

Select a question from the left, see the answer to the right.

How does WGU keep its tuition so low?

As a nonprofit university, WGU doesn’t need to benefit shareholders. Our students are our main concern. We also try to keep our operating costs low. And since we’re an exclusively online university, we don’t need to maintain expensive classroom buildings, a campus, and other non-academic programs.

Should I consider financial aid?

Using financial aid is a personal decision. When making this decision, you should know that a degree is a great investment in yourself that will pay for itself many times over. Individuals with a bachelor’s degree earn on average almost a million dollars more over the course their careers compared to those without one. A master’s degree typically has a similar impact on your wallet. You should definitely consider federal financial aid if it means the difference between getting your degree or not. Speak to an Enrollment Counselor to learn more.